Matthew WoodParty: UnaffiliatedAge: 31, just one year above the minimum age for governor. If he were to win, he’d be the youngest governor in state history,Residence: Grand JunctionOccupation: Currently, he’s a courier, but he’s also is a martial arts instructor (read more about that belw).Family: singlePolitical experience: failed run for mayor of Sterling in 2009, right after finishing college

This is a weekly feature to profile the candidates for governor as people, before we dig deeper into their politics as the race heats up.

You can be forgiven if you can’t name the very first person to formally declare a bid to become Colorado’s next governor: It’s Matthew Wood of Grand Junction, who filed for the seat in February of last year.

Wood is a native of Sterling and graduate of Sterling High School. He attended Northeastern Junior College and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in  human resources with a minor in psychology from Colorado Christian University in 2009.

He is passionate about being an unaffiliated candidate, not so much about the fundraising to goes with a run for the state’s highest office. Early on, he said he ran into one of the other candidates, a Republican, whom he didn’t identify. They got to talking about campaign contributions and the other man said he’d need $1 million just to get through the primary. “That’s a lot of money and if you don’t win, that’s a lot of wasted money,” Wood said.

His novel approach is to tell those who want to contribute to his campaign to either go shop at a small business or make a charitable donation. “Regardless of whether I win, I’m helping the state in a small way.”

His first targeted charity is Project Lyfe, a Grand Junction-based charity dedicated to suicide awareness and prevention.

For now, he’s relying on word of mouth and a barebones website to get out the word about his candidacy, and weekend trips to community events to talk about the race.

About being unaffiliated: When he ran for mayor of Sterling in 2009, Wood ran as a Republican. That’s where the demographics are, he said, not to mention his family still in northeastern Colorado. Some family members have run for office as Republicans, he said.

But a couple of years ago his views about party affiliation began to change, and less than a month before filing for governor, he dropped out of the GOP and registered as an unaffiliated voter. “I’ve never really liked the whole party line” idea, he said.

The 2016 election had a lot to do with it. Wood said both major political parties “embarrassed themselves” during the 2016 election cycle. “I didn’t want to be affiliated with either” Democrats or Republicans. He also hopes he has a better chance of getting his message out without a formal party affiliation. Democrats don’t listen to Republicans and vice versa, he indicated.

Wood’s views are shaped by some of his life experiences, including a dozen years teaching martial arts to “kids from age three to 80.” Yes, he holds a black belt, and is a follower of the martial arts philosophy of Jeet Kune Do, developed by the late martial arts master and actor Bruce Lee. Wood started training in martial arts at age 10, deciding back then he would stay with it until he got his Black Belt. But by the time that happened, he was hooked.

Next week, Wood and several friends will go to Denver to train with Daniel Inosanto, best known as Lee’s training partner and the man who introduced Lee to nunchucks.

“When it comes down to it, I like helping people,” Wood told Colorado Politics. Running for governor, he explained, is the ultimate big step to help a lot of people.